Lake County man weighs plea offer in vehicular fratricide case

LAKEPORT -- A Lake County man accused of vehicular fratricide is weighing an offer to resolve several criminal cases against him.

Dylan Eugene Waters, charged with killing his older brother and another man in a Highway 29 crash north of downtown Lower Lake last summer, appeared in court Tuesday for case scheduling, but the hearing was postponed two weeks to give the defense more time to discuss a plea deal proposed by the prosecution.

Senior deputy district attorney John Langan would not disclose specifics about the offer but said it would resolve all of Waters' pending felony cases.

In the most serious matter, Waters, 27, faces two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other charges for the July 3 crash that killed Kenneth Jeffrey Waters, 28, of Kelseyville and Randy Alton Orange, 53, of Clearlake Oaks.

Waters pleaded not guilty to counts related to the double-fatal wreck. He also denied wrongdoing in his other cases, which included an alleged assault June 1, alleged home invasion June 25 and alleged high-speed chase with authorities July 22.

Waters is set to return to the Lake County Courthouse on March 26 to schedule his vehicular-manslaughter preliminary examination -- a hearing during which a judge would decide if there's enough evidence to move the case to trial.

He remains in custody at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636, ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com. Follow him on Twitter, @JeremyDWalsh.